Meretz chairperson Zehava Gal-On said the Peace Now report detailing Israeli settlement construction during the nine-month period in which the government negotiated with the Palestinian Authority "reveals the face of the right-wing extremist government, which, over nine months of negotiations, gave a middle finger to the American government's efforts to promote talks, and broke records of building in settlements.

"All this happened under the sponsorship of the peace-lovers [Justice Minister] Tzipi Livni and [Finance Minister] Yair Lapid, who promised their voters that they will only sit in the government to reach an agreement with the Palestinians," she added.

Gal-On said there is no way to blur the reality that the government is not interested in peace and called for Lapid to stop being a coward and block funding to settlements.